


Kiss The Boy

by jia_kameda



Series: He mele no Tsukishima [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-18
Updated: 2017-07-16
Packaged: 2018-11-15 13:51:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11232339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jia_kameda/pseuds/jia_kameda
Summary: Kageyama Tobio is annoyed by Tsukishima Kei "I don't care" attitude. Tsukishia Kei is annoyed by Kageyama Tobio's meddling. Both think that there's no way they could ever be liked by the other.***complete***Rated M for last chapter.





	1. You're welcome

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and thank you for deciding to read this fanfiction of mine. I hope you'll like it!  
> Oh by the way, this work has been betaed, so I hope the quality is a bit better than in my other fics.  
> Rated M for later chapters.  
> And don't assume I own any of this, just saying...

Chapter 1: You’re welcome

The first time he had laid his eyes on the genius first year setter, Tsukishima had known that he wouldn't like him. There was no way he could like someone as full of himself as Kageyama. It pissed him off that the black haired boy seemed to think that he, as the setter and basic game strategist, was the only person on court who thought about which moves were best to win the next point. It pissed him off that the boy who was smaller than him thought he could order him to jump according to what pleased the setter in the moment rather than what was pleasant for the guy who had to jump. And most of all, it pissed him off that whenever he met those deep blue eyes he felt like the arrogant git could be so much better if he’d just really look at him and not just notice his presence on court.

Not that he really wanted Kageyama to look at him, but he could improve a little to make this pleasant for the both of them, if he’d just set those damn balls for him the way he liked it. But what did he expect from someone who favoured a player who promised to hit any ball that was tossed in his direction no matter how impossible it might seem to catch it?

Tsukishima clicked his tongue in annoyance as he once again watched Kageyama and Hinata do the freak quick from the other side of the net. They played a 3-on-3 match for practice and Tsukishima had been put in a team with Sugawara and Nishinoya, Kageyama and Hinata were with Asahi. Both teams were rather odd but Ukai-san had thought it best to make the teams match in height rather than having all the first years play and Yamaguchi had anyways been ordered to practice his jump float serve outside. 

The ball crashed down on the floor next to Tsukishima who stood in vanguard; Hinata had smashed it down almost straight behind the net. 

Tsukishima didn’t even flinch; first of all he thought it too much work to block the freak quick and second, he was used to the incredible sound the volleyball made when it was smashed down with as much force as Hinata used, so he wouldn’t move no matter if he was paying attention or not. 

“Oi! Tsukishima!” Kageyama glared at him from the other side of the net. “You’re supposed to try and stop the ball, not space out and not care!”

Tsukishima clicked his tongue again but was too lazy to make up a sharp comeback. 

This was mostly practice for Karasuno’s two setters anyways, so there was no need to get all riled up by someone who thought otherwise. He turned his head so he didn’t have to look at Kageyama’s fierce blue eyes while the other kept on glaring at him. 

“He does have a point though” whispered Sugawara giving him a nice smile, like he always did, as he stood next to him and prepared to set the ball Nishinoya had just received after Asahi’s serve. “Tsukishima” he said to indicate that he set it for him to smash, however, Hinata was quick with blocking and helped Kageyama to effectively cut off any way Tsukishima could have hit the ball, so it rebounded for Nishinoya to receive again and Sugawara to set again, again for Tsukishima. They got the point this time, despite the combined efforts of Hinata and Kageyama to block the attack.

Practice dragged on, they switched the teams up after finishing one set and switched them up once again after the second set. In this new rotation, Tsukishima was put into Kageyama’s team together with Nishinoya, after having been in a team with Sugawara and Hinata before. 

It was very trying for his nerves to play with Kageyama as he seemed to have more complains than usual. “Why did you do this?” – “Why are you so slow?” – “Did you even look at Asahi-san’s attack?” The list went on, but Tsukishima only frowned and tried not to look into the deep blue eyes of the young setter. The fierceness irritated him, as did Hinata’s energetic jumping on the other side of the net. 

He wished practice would be over already.

 *** 

“For fuck’s sake, Tsukishima!” Kageyama sounded very angry when he entered the changing room after they had finished putting away the equipment. He strode through the small room, determined to corner the tall blond middle blocker who stood in front of his locker. However, Tsukishima had already finished changing and nonchalantly walked past him, followed by Yamaguchi.

“Oi!” Kageyama gripped his arm, demanding attention.

He got a raised eyebrow and a “don’t have time right now, your highness” as Tsukishima shook his arm free and proceeded to the door, unperturbed. 

“What the heck…?” Kageyama didn’t know what to say or how to stop the other boy. He knew that Tsukishima was rather unconcerned when it came to the club, usually he didn’t care about all the things Kageyama himself or Hinata cared about, as both wanted to improve for their own and the team’s sake, however, this day, Kageyama had witnessed an exceptionally uncaring performance from the scarily tall middle blocker. Kageyama knew that it would be of no use to try and talk to Tsukishima. Suggesting that he should put more effort in this thing, which Tsukishima had labelled “Just a school club” (and Kageyama called his life), was futile. During these times Tsukishima would only listen to Yamaguchi… However, there was no reason to pay such little attention during an ordinary practice session as he usually did a much better job at blocking and attacking. 

Kageyama would never admit this, but he did admire some of Tsukishima’s natural ability to block and he admired it even more when Tsukishima blocked while actually having his head in the game.

Kageyama changed his clothes and slammed his locker shut before leaving the changing room grumpily. While he crossed the schoolyard, Hinata caught up with him. “You look rather upset” he stated in his usual carefree tone.

“Tsukishima was weird today” Kageyama replied crankily. 

“What do you mean?” Hinata tilted his head. “He’s always weird, like the antisocial kind of weird.” 

“Yeah… But you know, something seemed off today.”

“I didn’t notice… But why do you care anyways?”

“Am I not allowed to care?” He gave Hinata an angry look.

Hinata backed off, taking a defensive position. “All I’m saying is that it seems unlike you to care that much about Tsukishima’s behaviour.”

“Hmph.” Kageyama didn’t know what to say. He really didn’t know why he cared so much. And he also didn’t know why he had to talk about it with Hinata, he was an idiot and wouldn’t get it, even if Kageyama would have known why he cared.

“If that’s all you’re going to say, then I’m leaving.” Hinata sounded somewhat offended. He stuck his tongue out at Kageyama and made a run for his bicycle that he had parked close to the school gates. 

Kageyama watched him leave without saying “good bye” or “idiot” or whatever else he usually said to the small middle blocker. He just stared after him and wondered why he cared that much about Tsukishima’s behaviour. Hinata had been right when he had said that it was unlike him to care that much, especially when it concerned Tsukishima. Since entering Karasuno High School he had not gotten along with the tall blond and had also never really cared about getting along. He had accepted the others as necessary evil he could ignore most of the time, so why did he seem to notice him suddenly? 

He violently shook his head and he slapped his cheeks, like he wanted to slap the thoughts out of his head. He had better things to do than to think about Tsukishima, really.

*** 

It was Wednesday morning; the one day of the week they didn’t have morning practice. However, Tsukishima had still left his house early in order to be at the school before the majority of the other students arrived as he hated it when the getabako was crowded and he had to push his way through the other students to get his indoor shoes. 

So when he arrived at school that morning it was nice and quiet, only a handful people had arrived and the passage to his place in the shoe cupboard was wide open. He hadn’t waited for Yamaguchi that morning, as their agreement was that if Yamaguchi wasn’t at their meeting point Tsukishima would not wait and so Tsukishima had felt very relaxed that morning until he saw Kageyama standing outside his classroom.

His heart began to race, as did his pulse.

‘What does he want?’ Tsukishima wondered while trying to ignore the setter’s existence while passing him on his way to the door of his still empty classroom. 

“Tsukishima” It irritated him a bit to be called so early in the morning. His heart was still racing. 

“What is it, Kageyama? I’m not available for study related questions – go ask Yachi-san.” He grumbled as he sat down on his desk by the window. Why had the black haired boy followed him?

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to make the mistake and ask you to tutor me ever again.” Kageyama looked at him with those fierce blue eyes in a manner that Tsukishima couldn’t stand and so he turned his head to look out of the window while the black haired boy continued to talk. “However, I’m going to make you tell me what the hell was up with you during practice yesterday!”

“Oh, are you now?” Tsukishima raised his eyebrow, while turning his head back again ever so slightly. 

“Yes, I am.” 

“I’d like to see you try.” He said in an icy voice but not without amusement. 

Suddenly Kageyama’s face was close, way closer than he had ever seen it and the angry, blue eyes pierced him. “Tell me what the fuck was wrong with you!”

A grin appeared on his face. “No, this is no way to make me talk – and before you waste any more of my precious time, leave.”

“Like hell I’m going to! You tell me why you were so out of it yesterday.”

“I won’t tell you.” He spit the words out and grabbed his earphones but Kageyama hindered him from putting them in his ears by grabbing his hands. “What the hell’s wrong with you?” Tsukishima stared at him in irritation.

“Like I know!” 

“That’s to be expected of an idiot –you don’t even understand your own actions.” He sneered. 

“Oh shut up!” Kageyama released his arms and grinded his teeth. “I… I’m just concerned!”

“Stop it, it’s creepy.”

“Why… you!” He frowned. “And here I was trying to be a good teammate. Well, have it your way.” He gave Tsukishima one last angry look and then strode out of the room, leaving the blond a bit baffled, even though he didn’t show it on his face. 

What had that been? His heart slowly regained a normal pace as he sighed a few times while wondering about the strange behaviour of the usually uncaring setter. 

The question of why Kageyama had confronted him (and to a certain extent, why his heart had raced) bothered Tsukishima throughout the day and when it was finally time for the last bell to ring he had still no answer. He sighed as he gathered his stuff and looked up to see if Yamaguchi was still there. 

“Sorry Tsukki!” The brown haired boy smiled at him. “I’m on duty to take out the trash, so go ahead!” 

Tsukishima nodded silently before leaving for the clubroom. The third years were already there, as were Hinata and Kageyama, who had, judging from their panting, once again raced each other to the changing room. Tsukishima rolled his eyes and after saying his greetings he entered the room and proceeded to his locker to change. 

He felt a pair of eyes on his back and could only imagine them being dark blue and belonging to a certain setter, but he refrained from turning around and meeting the burning gaze of his teammate. He hoped Kageyama would snap out of it and leave him alone soon.

Practice was uneventful, despite the hot burning glances Tsukishima frequently felt on him. He did his best not to return the favour and ignored whatever Kageyama’s problem seemed to be, however, when he saw the smaller, dark haired boy leave the changing room before him that evening, he couldn’t help himself and told Yamaguchi that he’d leave without him and he should not run after him. 

So he found himself, for reasons not entirely clear to him, chasing after the black haired boy. Of course he didn’t run, he just used his long legs to take longer strides and soon he caught up with the other guy, shortly after they passed the main building, without much effort. 

“What’s your problem, your highness?” He asked when he finally walked side by side with Kageyama.

The black haired setter jerked at being suddenly talked to, as he had seemed to be deep in thoughts. His dark blue eyes wandered to meet the gaze of golden brown ones and he gulped. “Tsukishima” he said, a hint of disbelief in his voice. 

Tsukishima raised an eyebrow. “I’m not going to ask again.” 

Kageyama frowned again. “I could ask you the same.” He had collected himself and his voice was low and steady now, like it usually was. “It’s unlike you to chase anyone.”

“Well, seems like we both have been behaving uncharacteristically. So if that is all there is, stop burning holes in my back with your eyes and leave me alone.” Tsukishima kept his eyes locked with Kageyama’s. “It’s annoying.” 

“It’s not like I want to be concerned with you!” Kageyama was the first to break the eye contact as he turned his face away so that Tsukishima would not see his expression as he whispered: “I just am.”

'Cute.' Now it was Tsukishima's turn to frown. That was not what he had expected. 'Very cute indeed.' They walked on in silence until they reached the main gate. Suddenly they heard some noise and heard Hinata whisper, in what he probably deemed a soft voice but was more like a stage whisper: “So this is what a discussion between Kageyama and Tsukishima looks like.” 

“Psst!” Yamaguchi said “I think they aren’t finished yet.” He too failed at being quiet. Kageyama and Tsukishima turned their heads in unison and shot the two other first year students angry glances. It took them a moment to realize that they had acted in sync, when they did, they gave each other the same look they had given their teammates. 

Kageyama huffed and strode away. 

Tsukishima just clicked his tongue, called out to Yamaguchi “I said not to follow” and put on his headphones in order to not hear his friend’s reply. 

Yamaguchi and Hinata, who had still been a couple of meters from the other two boys had halted in their tracks and now looked at each other in wonder. 

Hinata was the first to speak. “What’s with the two of them?” 

“I don’t know.” Yamaguchi shrugged. “I’ll talk to Tsukki later. Maybe you should try and talk to Kageyama?”

“I did that yesterday, actually.” The red haired boy looked pensive. “He did seem strange, saying he was concerned about Tsukishima.”

“That is indeed strange… But a good sign, don’t you think?”

“A good sign? How exactly?”

“It means Kageyama actually cares about us.” Yamaguchi smiled.

“But it’s kind of weird. It gives me the creeps.” Hinata shuddered when he thought of how a caring Kageyama would be like – if his smile was anything to go by, then he would just look as if he was planning to trick them into feeling safe to then murder them in their sleep. “I don’t want to talk to him about that again…” He shook his head. “No, definitely not.”

Yamaguchi looked at him with a mix of amusement and bewilderment. He didn’t really know what was going on in Hinata’s mind, but hearing him refuse so vigorously was somehow funny. “Ah come on, you’re the only one who can talk to him about those things, apart from Sugawara-senpai.”

“Maybe it’s better if you solve the problem by talking to Tsukishima.” Hinata retorted. “Because I’m sure it’s not much use to talk to Kageyama.”

“Just try once more and I’ll try and talk to Tsukishima.” Yamaguchi smiled again. They said their good-byes. Hinata took his bicycle and went on ahead, while the brown haired boy wondered if he should start running to catch up with Tsukishima or wait until the next day to talk to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translation note:  
> Getabako is the place where you put your outside shoes and change into your indoor shoes at schools. Here a picture for those who don’t know what I’m talking about:  
> http://dreamaker.jp/img/materials/20120731124959_186d0ed4.jpg


	2. Something More

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this chapter.  
> Unlike other stories I post here on AO3, this work has been betaed by a friend of mine, which means you are spared some really creative sentences like the following: "[...]teased Yamaguchi and snickered the way he only snickered when he snickered along with Tsukishima when he [Tsukki] had made a snide remark to another person[...]" I'm actually a bit sad that I was told to change that one... I love the word 'snicker'! <3  
> But I guess everyone else besides me will be a lot more comfortable with the edited sentences. ^^ Please enjoy.

Kageyama lay on his back on the bed and tossed a volleyball. What the fuck was up with him, he wondered. Why had he not been able to take his eyes off the blond middle blocker? Why had he been so obsessed with him since the day before? 

He sighed. Why did it matter to him if Tsukishima had a bad day? Why had he thought about that guy all day long? Why did it bother him that he had said that it was creepy for him to feel concerned? Why did he not understand the reason of his own concern? 

Maybe he liked something about the blond?

The ball dropped. 

What exactly could he like about him? 

Kageyama clicked his tongue. There was no way he liked anything about that stupid guy. He had been rude to him from the very first time they had met and he was not some kind of misguided teenage girl who believed that a guy who picked on you secretly liked you. That was just nonsense. And even if that guy did like him, there was no way that Kageyama himself would reciprocate.

He picked the ball back up and started tossing it again. 

'Nonsense, really. '

He should just go back and think of volleyball and hope that Tsukishima would just stop being weird. But what if he didn’t? And what if whatever it was that occupied his mind was something serious? 

'Stop it brain'.

The ball had dropped again and Kageyama decided that it was now time to go to sleep. Maybe he would stop thinking of unnecessary things if he had a good night’s rest. 

***

Tsukishima lay on his back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. He had turned the light off a while back, his glasses were placed on his desk and he was prepared to sleep, but sleep would not come to him. The sandman had not visited him since he had decided that he was ready half an hour ago and so he just stared at the dark ceiling. He knew it was of a milky white colour but in the darkness it was more greyish than white and it looked quite unfamiliar even though Tsukishima was sure that he had looked at that same ceiling hundreds of times before. 

How little things could change something well known into something so unknown, almost uncanny - it made him think of E. T. A. Hoffmann’s Sandman story… What if it was the same with Kageyama? What if this strange feeling that had made his heart race was just because something about Kageyama had changed? Not that he would say that he knew the black haired boy very well, but probably still well enough to feel slightly unsettled by a change in his character or appearance. 

Then again, Kageyama was in no way as uncanny as Olimpia so there was no reason to make a comparison to the Sandman. Tsukishima rolled his eyes at himself. What was he thinking? He was probably just too tired to have any coherent thoughts. He really was supposed to sleep – and there he was again back with the other sandman who just did not have any mercy towards him.

Tsukishima closed his eyes and turned to the side. Maybe a different sleeping position would help. 

Dark blue eyes appeared in his mind. Black hair swayed past. Droplets of sweat... Muscular arms... Bam. A ball hit the floor. It bounced a couple of times and then rolled across the floor, lightly hitting the trainer-clad shoe. Tsukishima looked down at the green-white-red ball and then up again to meet the gaze of intense blue eyes. He picked the ball up and was about to throw it back when he noticed that Kageyama had moved. He wasn’t standing on the other side of the net anymore but close by. His eyes still fixed on him. He did not speak, neither did Tsukishima, they just looked at each other and Tsukishima got lost in the moment. It seemed to last an eternity until suddenly the ball was not there anymore and the room vanished as well. He was alone in an open field. He wondered if he was supposed to feel cold but he did not feel anything physically, he only felt sadness at having lost that moment from before now that he was alone. 

Beep beep

Tsukishima’s eyes were wide open in an instant. Why had he dreamed of him, he wondered as he got up and dressed for school. He should not be so hung up about what had happened, it did not make much sense to think about it that much. 

He left the house, met Yamaguchi at the corner and they proceeded to school.

Tsukishima wondered why Yamaguchi was smiling at him that morning. Not that he usually greeted him with a sullen expression, but this smile was definitely different from his usual smile. He felt a sudden shudder down his spine – how could his childhood friend be so scary all of a sudden? He had only ever seen that kind of smile on Sawamura-san’s face. It had been the face he had made when he had been really angry with Kageyama and Hinata. Yamaguchi should not have learned such a weird smile. 

“Good morning, Tsukki!” Yamaguchi said in a very jovial voice. “How are you?” Tsukishima grumbled something unintelligible and walked past him. “Seems like you and Kageyama are getting along well recently.” 

“Not really.”

“But you talked.” 

“So, what?” Tsukishima did not look at his friend. 

Yamaguchi still smiled. “Nothing. Isn’t it nice that you finally talked?” They were now half way to the school gate. “What exactly were you talking about with Kageyama yesterday?”

“You’re being noisy, Yamaguchi.”

“Don’t tell me it was something embarrassing!” teased Yamaguchi and snickered the way he snickered when Tsukishima made a snide remark about another person. “Come on, you can tell me!” Tsukishima frowned. “It must have been something embarrassing, because the two of you looked very angry at being disturbed by Hinata and me.”

Tsukishima’s eyes narrowed and he said in a very low voice: “That’s all nonsense. I have no clue what Kageyama wanted to say to me, neither do I know what his problem was. So basically, we did not talk at all.” 

“Oh, is that so?” Yamaguchi raised an eyebrow. “Well then, maybe you should try to talk again?”

“No thank you.” Tsukishima sounded a bit angry. 

“Now you sound just like Hinata” mused the shorter boy then, hoping that this comment would make an impression on Tsukishima and push him into the right direction. But the blond only snorted. 

When they reached the clubroom they could already hear some chatter from within and when Yamaguchi opened the door the first thing Tsukishima saw was Kageyama’s black hair. He stood close to the entrance with his back to the door. He wasn’t yet wearing his white t-shirt but just the undershirt yelling something at Hinata, which Tsukishima didn’t really catch as he was distracted by the sight of the smaller boy’s nape and spine. A weird prickling sensation spread in his body and he tore his gaze away. 

Kageyama did not turn around when the door opened and he heard Yamaguchi’s friendly greeting. He knew that Tsukishima was there too, he felt it, but he could not turn around. Somehow his thoughts from the night before were still with him and he felt too conscious of the tall blond middle blocker and knew that he would not be able to help but stare at him.

Do not look at him, he told himself when Tsukishima walked past him to his own locker in the back, but it was just too easy to admire the black-clad broad back, the short blond hair and the nape that disappeared under the black collar.

Kageyama inhaled deeply, turned around and left the clubroom. Hinata followed him and they raced each other down the stairs, across the yard and to the door of the gym. Running did help dispel the thoughts about the other boy, but it did not help for long, as he had to see and interact with Tsukishima throughout the morning practice session. It was almost as if the team was purposefully matching the two up… Kageyama cringed and tried to behave normally. He was rather glad when morning practice ended and he was finally alone, well not exactly alone but at least not surrounded by his teammates anymore. 

He sighed and stared out of the window with a frown while the lessons dragged on. 

His mind wandered to blond hair, fierce eyes and dark glasses. It wandered to elegant jumps and extremely well executed blocks. It wandered to fair skin, a muscular back and fine hands. Kageyama sighed. Why did he think of that guy? Why of his physical features? Well, he could think of his character, about the sneers and the sarcastic comments – which were at times spot on and, when his cold behaviour was not directed towards himself, he actually enjoyed hearing him speak, there was something about his sharp wit that was quite enchanting. 

It was also nice to hear him speak about normal things, his voice was pleasant to hear and his opinions were interesting. Kageyama suddenly caught himself wishing that he could talk normally with Tsukishima. He never did. They either sneered at each other (usually because Tsukishima had belittled him for something he had said or done to Hinata) or they just were silent in each other’s company. Now that he thought about it, he had had more conversations with Yamaguchi than with Tsukishima – probably because Yamaguchi was more talkative and friendly, at least towards his teammates. 

Why was Tsukishima so aloof? “It’s quite a pity. It’s not like he seems to be the type to be bad in interpersonal relationships.”

“What are you saying?” Hinata looked at him with curiosity. “Whom are you talking about?”

Kageyama looked at his redheaded teammate with surprise. “I beg your pardon, what?”

“You were saying something!” Hinata sounded excited. “Something about someone not seeming to be bad with human relations. Who is it that you were referring to?”

“I said that?” Kageyama blinked in bewilderment. 

“Yes! What’s wrong with you?” The two of them were on their way to the clubroom and neither had Kageyama noticed that he had voiced his thoughts loudly nor had he known that Hinata had been walking close to him since he had left the main school building. “So, who is it?”

“Not going to tell you.” He frowned. It would be better if he held his tongue in check, as well as his thoughts. 

“But why?! Aren’t we teammates? Tell me, come on!”

“No.”

“Well then promise me that you will talk to Tsukishima and sort out whatever problem that you seem to have with him."

“Where did that come from?”

“Sawamura-senpai told me this morning after practice that I ought to tell you that you have to talk to Tsukishima. The air around the two of you is even worse than it usually is since Tuesday…”

“Well, it was not my fault that Tsukishima wasn’t paying enough attention on Tuesday and I tried talking to him but he didn’t want to discuss it, so we’ll leave it at that.” He opened the door to the clubroom and looked around but did not see any blond hair. “Anyway, most problems disappear if they are ignored long enough.” He changed his clothes; put is bag and the uniform in the locker and left the room without another word.

It was only after practice, which Tsukishima had skipped, that Hinata came to bother him again about the blond middle blocker. True, Kageyama had been even more distracted by the absence of said player than he would have been if he had been present, but that did not have to mean anything. It was normal to worry about someone if you saw them in the morning and they just disappeared during the day. 

Yamaguchi’s “it’s nothing serious but he had to go home” did not calm his nerves, but he refrained from bugging the freckled boy for more information, because it was none of his business after all. 

“You are worried”, stated Hinata flatly when pushing his bicycle past him on their way home. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say that it looks like as if you like him.”

Kageyama blushed. Did he like him? His mind wandered back to that thought he had so fervently denied the night before. He furiously shook his head. 

But it was too late. Hinata’s eyes had widened and were as big and round as saucers. “Oh my god! You like him!” his voice a mix of excitement, astonishment and utter confusion. 

“What? No!” Kageyama insisted. 

“But you blushed!” Hinata sounded triumphant. “That means what I said is true!” He grinned and said it again, now in a friendly teasing manner: “You like him.” This caused Kageyama to blush even more. Hinata smiled. “Isn’t it fine? I’m sure deep down there is something good in Tsukishima, I mean, he does seem rather concerned when it comes to you…”

“Oh don’t you dare build up my hopes!” Kageyama held his index finger up in a warning pose and said angrily: “There’s no way in hell he likes me back!”

“There’s no way in hell you can know that for sure,” protested Hinata. They had reached the crossing where their paths had to split. “So try to stay positive and I’ll help you – Yamaguchi is also rooting for you, as well as Yachi.” And with those words Hinata mounted his bicycle and rode off. 

‘What?’ thought Kageyama. Why did all these people suspect something? It had not been very long since he himself had noticed his own feelings and their possible meaning, so why did he have cheering squad now? This was nonsense, it had to be – Hinata was probably joking with him. He had to forget about Tsukishima and his supposed attraction to him. 

Kicking some small stones that had been lying on the pavement, he went on his way, wondering how he would get those thoughts out of his head now, while wondering why he had felt a tiny bit happy when Hinata had tried to encourage him. 

***

Tsukishima had to pass on the afternoon practice because one of his idiot classmates had thrown a book across the class room which had hit him in the face, knocking off his glasses which flew out of the open window next to his desk. It was really a very unfortunate accident, but there was little he could do but to collect his glasses, which had not survived the fall from the third floor and tell a teacher to call his home so his mother could come and get him so that they could go to the optician and get a new pair made. 

Tsukishima frowned the whole way to the shop and back home. He was annoyed that he had to miss out on practice because of such a trifle. His mother had forgotten where she had put his old glasses so he had to go home and search for them himself and therefore attending practice had been impossible. 

He sighed while he looked through all the drawers in the storage room and opened every possible chest where his old glasses could be. For once he regretted not using contact lenses like so many other people who had glasses and participated in sports. 

It took him a while to find his old glasses, but when he found them again he was relieved. They didn’t have the right dioptre anymore but it was better than nothing. It was only for the weekend. They would get his new glasses fixed by Monday. 

He sat down on the couch and watched television. Had he been missed during practice? Well, probably not. Why would they miss him? They were probably indifferent to him being there and broken glasses weren’t that big of a deal. But still, a small voice in the back of his head wondered if a certain someone was concerned. If a certain someone was worried. If a certain pair of blue eyes would look at him tomorrow and ask what happened to his glasses. Would ask if he was all right.

It was definitely weird? Why was he so concerned about what Kageyama thought? There was no need to be. There was no reason to be.

Maybe there was one reason.

But that was a bullshit reason. 

And not very likely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry if people felt offended by the way I changed Yamaguchi’s character a bit. I know he’s a really sweet boy in the series and the manga, but I think if you’re Tsukishima’s best friend, you just can’t help but pick up on some of his bad habits (eg. snickering and teasing/making snide remarks), furthermore, I think that towards his close friends everyone is a bit more bitchy and likes to tease. So I don’t think it’s all that farfetched to portray Yamaguchi to be less mellow when he deals with Tsukishima in certain situations.


	3. I won't say I'm in love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello little munchkins!   
> As promised, the weekly update of this story! As sad as it sounds, we've already reached the middle (this story being only 5 chapters long) but yeah, rejoice, this chapter is WAY longer than any other chapters from this series! It's almost double!! And in accordance with classical (theatre) drama theory, this is also the climax chapter. :) So please enjoy.

Tsukishima stood in the hallway halfway between his and Kageyama’s classroom. He stood there alone. No other student could be seen, despite it being midmorning, judging from the light that fell through the windows. Tsukishima just stood there, tall, blond, and handsome. Kageyama’s breath hitched. Tsukishima looked like a painting, his facial expression serene, the headphones in his ears, the gakuran slightly dishevelled but he looked like a runway model in them. Kageyama could hardly take his eyes from his teammate and before he knew it, he was moving towards him. One step at a time, slowly, as if he was approaching a sanctuary, he hardly breathed, tried to be as silent as possible. Then suddenly, Tsukishima turned his head, their eyes met and his heart skipped a beat. The blond’s golden brown eyes were so pretty; Kageyama almost lost himself in them. They drew closer as Kageyama had not stopped walking and he did not stop until his nose almost touched Tsukishima’s. It was surreal, absolutely surreal to stand so close to someone. And if he had known that this was but a dream, which explained why it was so surreal, Kageyama would have made another step and bridged the short distance between their mouths. He would have tried to taste the sweet-looking lips, would have pushed his hands in the short blond hair and pressed their bodies together, desperate to feel the heat of the other boy. 

He sighed when he woke up that morning. Why had it been a dream? And why had he not been more daring? Or maybe the right question should be, why had he fallen in love with that guy at all? How had that happened? Why could he not help himself and revert back? It did seem awfully sudden the way he had fallen in love, so why could he not stop loving him as suddenly?

It had been two weeks since that weird day Hinata had made him confront his feelings; two weeks since he himself had realized that he was interested in Tsukishima. Two weeks since he had tried to figure out what it was that he wanted to do. Because to be quite realistic, it was rather unlikely that Tsukishima liked him back, so he had to figure out what he was going to do about these feelings. 

The best thing would be not to feed them, which would mean he had to stop looking at Tsukishima, stop thinking about him when he had nothing else to do, stop caring about things that concerned him. All that was easier said than done. Because in those two weeks he had been thinking about the blond middle blocker so much more than before – or at least it felt like it was more than before. How would he ever overcome these feelings?

Well, first love was not meant to last anyways, so he would get over it eventually – he just had to hope that his brain did not betray him every time he did not keep himself in check. It was rather difficult to act normal around Tsukishima when he dreamed about him both when he was asleep and awake. 

***

It had been four weeks since that awkward attempt at a talk. Four weeks since he had started to have regular dreams of Kageyama or more accurately speaking, mostly of his eyes. 

He had dreamt of those eyes four times since the first time, so that meant five times in total. It was ridiculous. Especially because he caught himself looking out for those eyes, every time he walked around school and if he saw the back of a boy's head which was about the same height as Kageyama and had a similar hair cut, he hoped the person would turn around and be Kageyama. He wanted to see those eyes, if only for a second. It was truly laughable.

He did try to stop himself from looking. He even succeeded sometimes, but it was difficult, especially during practice when they weren’t doing anything that required much attention like warming up or putting away the equipment. 

***

Two months. It had been two months. It was now almost autumn. The preliminaries were around the corner and Kageyama was confident that this time, they would make it past Aoba Johsai. If he was able to keep his feelings for Tsukishima a secret – well at least from the object of his desires – then the team would also be able to beat his nasty senpai and his former teammates. 

“Will you confess?” Hinata had asked Kageyama once after a training session where they had stayed behind, jut the two of them. 

“No.” Kageyama had shaken his head. 

“Why not?” The redhead had seemed curious. “Is it because you fear being rejected?” 

“No.” This time his answer had been firmer. 

“Sure?”

“Yes, I am sure.” He had frowned. “You know, I just don’t think that feelings have to be confessed all the time. What if things turn awkward between us? I could not forgive myself if I ruined our chances at the tournament just because I had to blurt out something so unnecessary to Tsukishima. He dislikes me already, so there’s no need to give him even more reasons.”

“You’re too pessimistic.” They had closed the door of the gym and were now walking to the bicycle stands. “What if he liked you back and you never knew because you were too scared? Too concerned about the team, the environment?”

“Well then that’s that. I will never be able to change the past, so there’s no need to worry about it.”

“But don’t you want to be happy?”

“Who says I’m not happy?”

“Well… You could be even happier.” Hinata grinned and Kageyama rolled his eyes. 

They had stopped talking about this topic after that. Hinata knew better than to bother Kageyama about it, because if he would push him to take actions, it might just end in Kageyama becoming irritated with him and then the team’s dynamic would be disrupted and they might end up losing during a match and then Kageyama would really be angry.

***

They had won the match against Aoba Johsai and against Shiratorizawa. It felt like a miracle that they would be going to Tokyo for more matches. 

Looking at Kageyama’s proud and happy face after the ceremony where they had been awarded the trophy for becoming Miyagi Prefecture’s representative in the upcoming tournament, Tsukishima felt it was well worth the pain in his hand. Even though his hand hurt really badly – so bad that he knew he would probably not be very happy until the doctor would prescribe some painkillers. 

He sighed and tried not to clench his fingers or accidentally bump them against something on his way to the locker rooms. But the real challenge came when he was supposed to change out of his sweaty clothes and back into something which smelt less repulsive. 

Changing clothes was really a pain in the ass and it did not make matters better that he got those looks from his teammates when Yamaguchi offered to help him. He had to accept, because it was really annoying doing it alone, but it felt really strange and somehow wrong. If there was someone on the team he wanted to undressed by then it was certainly not Yamaguchi – oh no, he had better not think about how it would be better if someone with fine blue eyes and delicate fingers would pull the shirt over his head and tickle him a bit with the tips of his fingers. How it would be when that person would probe the elastic on the loose fitting sweat pants.

He sharply inhaled some air and Yamaguchi gave him a concerned look. “Did I accidentally touch your finger?”

“No, everything’s alright.” He looked away from his childhood friend but accidentally caught the eye of Kageyama, who had already finished changing and seemed to be watching him. Tsukishima frowned and broke the eye contact. “I’m fine… You know what, I’ll just stay in these until I’m back home. Who cares if I smell?” 

“But you’ve already taken off your shoes!” Yamaguchi protested, which resulted in Tsukishima raising an eyebrow. “You know, I’ll have to help you tie the shoe laces either way, so just bear with it and step out of the pans so I can help you get into your trousers.” Tsukishima did not change the expression of displeasure on his face but did as he was told. 

Oh how he wished a certain someone would just leave the locker room instead of watching him getting undressed by another man. He still felt Kageyama’s eyes on his back and it increased his discomfort. However, the ordeal was soon over and when he was finally wearing his shoes and uniform and Yamaguchi had put everything else in his bag – his childhood friend had insisted that he would pack for him so as not to strain his hand – he grabbed the bag with his uninjured hand and passed by the team. “I’m leaving first” he said to Sawamura who nodded with an understanding look on his face and left the locker room, but not without sneaking a glance in Kageyama’s direction. He had stopped staring at him and was now in one of his usual heated conversations with Hinata, who seemed to not at all be exhausted from the two matches they had played today. 

His brother and Yachi were waiting in the entrance area together with Coach Ukai. “Okay, let’s go to the hospital.” The young coach nodded in Yamaguchi’s direction. “You coming as well, Yamaguchi?”

“Can I?” Yamaguchi smiled happily when the coach nodded and said that he would drive them to the hospital and they’d then continue to the after party when Tsukishima had been treated. 

“Let me take your bag” said Akiteru and stretched out his hand to take his little brother’s bag. “I suppose you have your essentials on you, so I’ll take it with me that you don’t have too much baggage.” 

“I am only slightly injured, so I am still capable of taking care of my own luggage.” The younger but taller boy snapped back and held onto his bag while they walked to the coach’s car. 

The visit to the hospital didn’t take that long, the doctor readjusted the tape and bandage and prescribed some painkillers while advising Tsukishima to not overexert his hand for about two weeks. Akiteru was relieved upon hearing that. He insisted that he would take Kei’s bag and the medicine and bring them home so that his brother did not have to bother with them during the victory feast. Kei sighed, but let his brother do what he wanted this time; there was no meaning in getting worked up about him being so fussy. 

When they, arrived at the small restaurant where they held their feast, the other team members were already waiting for them and of course they asked if there was any more news about his hand and if he was feeling well, even Kageyama managed to say something that sounded remotely caring which of course triggered a snide remark from Tsukishima and some snickering by Yamaguchi. Kageyama’s expression instantly darkened and he said something along the lines “I see my concern is not needed” and left Tsukishima alone.

The blond’s heart ached when he saw Kageyama take a seat somewhere else and not talk to him anymore. No the concern had been appreciated, but what else could he have said except a snide remark? Everyone was watching them, well not explicitly but someone might have overheard them talking and then being anything else but his usual cold self would have been very embarrassing. 

As he lay in his bed that night, he tossed off to the thought of Kageyama offering him assistance with undressing. He imagined him having a concerned look on his face, his eyes being honest and soft. He imagined them being in the locker room of the gym after the big game but alone. Both drenched in sweat and Kageyama smelling deliciously salty as their lips met. His long delicate fingers finding their way under his shirt and helping him dragging it over his head very carefully, not at all like Yamaguchi had done it. Their upper bodies would meet when they went in for another kiss after Kageyama too had taken off his shirt before he would go down on his knees and help Tsukishima step out of his pants. Tsukishima imagined how it would feel to touch the soft-looking silky black hair when Kageyama would put his face closer to Tsukishima’s crotch area and tease him by pulling the rubber band of his boxer shorts and letting it go again. Kageyama would caress Tsukishima’s member through the thin fabric and make him needy, make him push his hips forward in an implicit plea for the black haired boy to stop the teasing and taking off the offending piece of cloth so that there could be skin contact. Kageyama would eventually comply, pull the shorts down and proceed to take him into his mouth. 

His fantasy did not get much further than this scene as Tsukishima came while thinking of the blue eyes looking up from under long eyelashes while soft lips were wrapped around his pulsing dick instead of his own hand. 

He knew that this was a very clichéd scene to get off to, as he had seen enough porn, which incorporated it, but as long as it worked, he would not question his taste in fap material. 

***

It was all sorts of wrong that he thought about how sexy Tsukishima had looked drenched in sweat and with the bandage on his hand. It was like a battle scar. Kageyama just couldn’t help but see a warrior prince in front of him. 

It was also all sorts of wrong that he felt jealous when he had to watch Yamaguchi help Tsukishima undress and redress. He couldn’t help but feel that it was not fair that he had to see someone else do what he would have done with pleasure – granted, he would have preferred it to be in a more intimate setting than a locker room full of his other sweaty and disgusting teammates. 

Kageyama sighed that night in bed. He was satisfied with the victory, he was also satisfied that he had managed to show some concern for Tsukishima, it had been inevitable that he would be laughed at by the tall blond boy for showing “concern for a mere pawn in the great game of kings”. It was better that Tsukishima had not taken him seriously, otherwise the situation might have become sort of embarrassing, for both of them. 

However, he had to keep his feelings in check. He had to be more careful, it would not do if Tsukishima would eventually find out about the love he harboured. 

***

It had been a month since the match against Shiratorizawa, Kageyama had been drafted for the National Youth Camp and Hinata was still sulking that he had not been invited to go there as well – they were a set weren’t they? At least that was what he claimed and Yamaguchi could only shake his head at the thought of Hinata being so obsessed by the fact that Kageyama got ahead of him. There were more important matters, at least according to the young, freckled boy that needed attention. Those more important matters being the stalemate in the situation between Kageyama and Tsukishima; Yamaguchi was convinced that both of them harboured feelings for the other but neither of them was willing to admit it, which made it rather difficult to get them together. Yamaguchi did not mind playing cupid at least once in his lifetime. He had seen enough romance movies thanks to his younger two sisters, to know that he was the type of person who was more suited to be a cupid or fairy godmother kind of character than a protagonist, so he should get that working for him and set up two people, who seemed to be meant for each other.

However, he could not do this alone, so he had talked to Yachi about it and tried to talk to Hinata about it, but Hinata was just blind to the situation. He had also completely forgotten the incident during the summer and was convinced that Yamaguchi was imagining things. “Shipping real people isn’t a good hobby, you know?” the redhead had said and waved good-bye and walked down the corridor towards the chemistry lab where he had had his next class. 

“Hinata doesn’t want to help us” Yamaguchi told Yachi the next day. He was quite frustrated, because now he feared that Hinata would run his mouth and tell Kageyama about him having figured out the feelings of the two involved parties and that would make matters worse. Kageyama would probably too think he was making fun of him. 

“Don’t take it to heart, that just happens.” Yachi smiled. “How about we just proceed without Hinata and ask Sugawara-Senpai? He looks like he could help.”

“But if we tell too many people there is the risk that either of them will hear that we are trying to set them up…”

“True. Then we just have to be quick. How about we try to get them together on the club’s Christmas Party?”

Yamaguchi nodded and they stared the planning. First they set up a plan for the Christmas Party so that Yachi could pitch the idea to Shimizu-Senpai, who in turn would inform the team about the party. If it was agreed on that they would hold a party then they could proceed to the second stage of the plan and make sure that there would be at least half an hour when Tsukishima and Kageyama had to be alone together with some sort of embarrassing task so they would figure out that the other liked them. It was rather tricky, but they would make it work somehow. Or they would try their best at least. 

It came as a surprise to Yamaguchi that he was contacted by Hinata a while later, when Shimizu-Senpai had informed the team about the Christmas Party. He sent him a line message saying “Are you still on about getting Kage and Tsukki together?”

It had been Friday night, two hours after practice. “Why…?”

“Let’s meet tomorrow.”

Yamaguchi frowned but instantly agreed. They met in the afternoon in a busy coffee shop in down town close to the streets that sold nerdy stuff so that they did not run risk of bumping into Kageyama or Tsukishima.

“So… Are you still thinking that Tsukishima likes Kageyama and vice-versa?” Hinata got straight to the point. Yamaguchi nodded and took a sip from his café latte. “What makes you so sure?”

“Come on, it’s written all over Kageyama’s face at times!”

“I’m more concerned about Tsukishima,” confessed the redhead now. “You know, I’m not supposed to say this, but Kageyama” he quickly turned his head as if he was expecting the black haired setter to be standing behind him, of course he wasn’t and neither could Tsukishima be seen anywhere. Hinata dropped his voice non-the-less “does like Tsukishima, so I don’t want him to get hurt if you aren’t one hundred per cent sure that Tsukishima feels the same.” 

Yamaguchi’s eyes widened. “Kageyama has confessed to you?”

“NO.” Hinata looked surprised. “He likes Tsukishima.”

Yamaguchi giggled. “I mean, he confessed his feelings towards Tsukishima to you.”

“Oh! Right. Yeah he did. It was kind of strange though,” muttered Hinata. “He even blushed. Have you ever seen that?” Yamaguchi shook his head. “So, what is your plan?”

“We will get them to be alone during the Christmas Party, possibly locking them up somewhere with some embarrassing task and then hopefully they will realize that their love is mutual.”

“Sounds great.” Hinata smiled his brightest smile. “Yachi’s in on this too?”

“Yes. She is trying to convince Shimizu-Senpai that some party games would be great.”

***

The Christmas Party came along faster than expected, probably because they held it almost a week before actual Christmas, due to them all being busy around that time with one thing or another. Yachi had convinced Shimizu about the party games and so Yamaguchi, Yachi and Hinata had one last meeting the day before the party under the pretext of confirming that they would have everything that was needed for the party which they would hold in the club room after practice that Saturday. 

They discussed the plan again and made sure that they had not forgotten any detail. Nothing was left to chance, they even bought marked cards for one of the party games, so that they could make sure that Kageyama and Tsukishima would end up as a pair. They also bought snacks for the party and were quite content with their plan for the next day.

***

The marked cards worked wonderfully. 

After the practice they had all changed into fresh clothes, aired out the clubroom and then set up the snacks on a picnic sheet in the middle of the room. They all sat down on the hard floor, their bags pushed to the back of the room so they had enough space to sit and play a game of Uno to warm the party up. They could not jump right into the frivolous party games, at least that was what Yachi had said and Yamaguchi and Hinata had agreed. 

Not all of them were playing Uno. Tsukishima had outright refused to participate, as he claimed to hate games based solely on luck. So he sat back, watching the others playing and screaming while laughing. He rolled his eyes when he saw how agitated Hinata and Tanaka became after Tanaka had just laid a take-four card on two previous take-fours so that Hinata now had to take up twelve cards. Tsukishima’s eyes flickered to Kageyama, who looked grumpily at his own cards, slightly relieved that he did not have to take sixteen cards because Hinata did not have another take-four, however, he was also troubled because it seemed that he had no card in the colour that Hinata had put down. It was somehow cute to see him so, as soon as the thought had crossed Tsukishima’s head, his face darkened and he reached for a Country Ma’am cookie. 

The other people not playing were Ennoshita, who had claimed that he always lost and did not like playing, and then there was Shimizu-san, who had refused to play by saying that she felt like the other’s would feel sad if she crushed them all. 

After they finished playing Uno – they had continued playing until three people had finished. That was first Sugawara, he claimed to have been lucky, but all agreed that he was just too nice to everyone so no one really dared to be mean to him. The second to finish was Nishinoya, which ticked off Tanaka who accused him of cheating, which lead Nishinoya to poking out his tongue to him and Tanaka became even louder in his complains, especially as he was not the third to finish. That was Sawamura. Kageyama still had three cards, Asahi two and Hinata, well, he had been stuck with almost ten cards ever since that time he had had to take up twelve. Tanaka had had one card for what had felt like half the game but never finished and he complained a lot about that. Narita and Kinoshita had both six cards left. Yachi had only two cards and Yamaguchi five. Both sighed and shrugged when the game had ended. Then they had gotten up simultaneously, which did not escape Tsukishima’s notice. For a moment he thought that there was something going on between the two, but he pushed the thought away, Yamaguchi was too shy to try anything and Yachi still thought that she was a Villager B and so her life did not warrant a romance subplot, so she too would refrain from trying anything. 

After having pushed the thought to the side, Tsukishima had not continued to watch the two who had stood up, otherwise he would have seen the glances that were exchanged between the two and Hinata, before he got up as well and went to get the cards, while Yachi helped Shimizu-Senpai put away the Uno cards. Yamaguchi cleared the middle of some of the snacks, as there were some empty packages now and he did not like the garbage to be in the way. 

“Let us play another fun game”, said Hinata and held out the cards. “A game with tasks. So all of us will be grouped together and then there are five tasks that have to be completed as a group.”

“Yamaguchi, Hinata and I as well as Shimizu-Senpai will each supervise one task” said Yachi and smiled at the group. “As there are four supervised tasks but five groups in total, the group which does not have a task with one of us will be in here doing a special task that will be given to you by the supervisor of the task before you go to the unsupervised task.”

“Any questions?” Yamaguchi tried not to look nervous. 

“Can I pass on this as well?” Tsukishima was not looking amused when a collective “no” was shouted at him by not only the people who had planned the game but the whole team. He rolled his eyes but kept quiet. 

Hinata shuffled the cards and handed each person a card. “Groups are as follows: Ace matches up with six of the same colour and the two tens match up. Now look at your card and give it back to me.” Everyone turned their card to take a look before they called out to find their partner. It took less than a minute for everyone to give back their card and get to their partner. The only people not so pleased with their group were those in team four, Tsukishima and Kageyama. 

Ennoshita and Sugawara were team one, Tanaka and Nishinoya team two, Narita and Asahi team three and Sawamura and Kinoshita team five. Which meant that Ennoshita and Sugawara started with Yachi’s task, Tanaka and Nishinoya with the unsupervised task, Narita and Asahi with Shimizu’s task, Kageyama and Tsukishima with Hinata’s task and Sawamura and Kinoshita with Yamaguchi’s task. 

Being with Tsukishima in a group was Kageyama’s worst nightmare and most heartfelt desire come true at the same time. Well, that was if Tsukishima would stop frowning and making snide remarks. Working together with him was really hard, especially when he made fun of not only Hinata, who had a difficult time explaining his task to them as Tsukishima interrupted him to tell him how stupid and childish the whole thing was at least three times, but also Kageyama. Then again the making fun of Kageyama was mostly because Hinata’s task was answering questions, however only one team member could answer and if the answer was wrong the one who had not answered got a punishment. Which meant that at the end of the task, Tsukishima was wearing a party hat, had glitter all over his shirt, a dinosaur sticker on his left cheek and was forced to walk with open shoelaces. He was also forced to partake in some unpleasant things like lime juice and liquorice candy. Halfway through the game Tsukishima had almost thought of giving up on answering correctly, just because he did not really like being the only one looking stupid, but then he remembered that if Kageyama remained clean, that meant that the others would see that he, Tsukishima, had known all the answers, so his ego told him to get over all the glitter and stick to being smart. However, it did not make him happy.

Kageyama was rather flustered, whenever he stole a glance at Tsukishima while they walked towards where Yamaguchi’s task was located. He hated himself for having been so dumb and giving so many wrong answers, because it meant that Tsukishima was now angry with him and he did wonder why the tall blond had not opted to start answering incorrectly as well. Never the less he had to say that he found Tsukishima’s getup rather cute. The dinosaur suited him. 

“Next time, if a task requires using our brains, leave it to me, got it?” Tsukishima sneered. 

Kageyama’s face darkened and he shot the blond an angry glance, which was met with an equally fierce one. “Yeah, yeah…” He murmured, giving in as he knew that there was no good reason to argue.

They went over to Yamaguchi who was hard-pressed not to laugh, however when he noticed Tsukishima’s fierce stare he immediately sobered up. “Okay, I see you had fun with Hinata’s task.” He smiled. “This task is a bit more physical, just try not to overdo it.” He showed them into the gym and explained the parcour they had to pass through in as little time as possible. They got two tries before the one try that would be noted down. Yamaguchi was the timekeeper and he stood in the middle of the gym watching the pair patiently.

Unfortunately, the parcour did not work out like they had thought it would. In the first try, the two boys sneered at each other. Kageyama, being the faster and more agile of the two, used his position to make snide remarks about Tsukishima’s clumsiness. Well, clumsiness was an exaggeration. But some of the obstacles had been designed to be for people who were not as tall as the blond middle blocker, so he had a harder time getting past them than Kageyama. However, Yamaguchi and Hinata had actually thought that the two would start cooperating after the first try, so they would get past the obstacles faster, but Kageyama’s nastiness and his previous stupidity that had resulted in Tsukishima being covered in glitter, had made the taller boy slightly pissed off, so he was even less inclined to cooperate than he might have been before and the two ended up competing against each other rather than the other teams. This meant that in the end, Tsukishima was exhausted. 

He had sweat so much it felt unpleasant. The glitter, which had made its way under his shirt, made him itch all over, which made him grumpy, so he made a mental note to take petty revenge on Yamaguchi who had planned this event and therefore was responsible for him feeling disgusting. 

Kageyama too was sweaty and felt a bit sticky, but when he looked at Tsukishima, he knew that he was by far better off as they proceeded to Yachi for their next task. Pleasantly enough they could sit down this time and there was plenty to drink. Yachi’s task was easy enough; they just had to guess who people were from pictures of their hands. Fascinatingly enough there were more hands than people on their Volleyball team and as it turned out, the people organizing the event had gone out of their way and collected pictures of hands from a lot of different teams, especially Nekoma and Fukuroudani had been very cooperative with their request for hand pictures. 

When they had finished guessing the hands, Yachi gave them an envelope and sent them on their way to the clubroom, as they had to do their unsupervised task. On their way to the clubroom, they bumped into Sawamura and Kinoshita. Sawamura gave Tsukishima a sympathetic look and Kinoshita said, “Good luck, you two will need it” as they passed by. Upon entering the clubroom and opening the envelope, they understood why their senpai had put so much emphasis on “you two” – they had to build a paper castle and prove that they had done it together. 

In the envelope they found two cut-out sheets to build the castle with and they were requested to take a video of them building the castle with a camera that had been placed in the middle of the room. 

“Oh god”, Kageyama groaned. “Do you really think they’ll watch the whole video of us trying to build a paper castle?” 

Tsukishima shrugged and sat down on the floor. “Does it matter?” He took one of the scissors and held out his hand. “Come, give me one sheet.” 

Kageyama handed him one before sitting down as well and watched Tsukishima cut the pieces from the sheet for a moment before a raised eyebrow from the blond reminded him that he too should cut the pieces from his sheet. But how could he concentrate on cutting precisely when his crush was sitting right opposite of him looking adorable – there was no other way to describe a Tsukishima wearing a party hat and having a dinosaur sticker on his cheek – and sexy at the same time. His concentrated face with the slightly narrowed eyes was really hot. He gave off about the same aura he had when he got serious during a volleyball match. Oh how he loved seeing Tsukishima serious… 

“What are you starting at me for? Are you finished?” 

Kageyama blinked. “Oh… No.” Tsukishima sighed but didn’t comment while Kageyama started cutting again. 

Kageyama’s blue eyes were fixed on the paper – finally. Having those stern eyes watching him had made him shiver. He liked having those eyes on him, but he knew that he was giving into illusions when imagining that the other boy looked at him with lust, with a hidden meaning. Kageyama had only looked at him because he had not been able to believe that he took this task so coolly. Yes, that was the only reason why Kageyama had stared. Or maybe because he still thought all the glitter hilarious, oh he would never live this bloody party hat down. 

They worked in silence for a moment. But when they finally finished cutting out all the pieces they did have to communicate in order to glue them together. Both boys sighed. 

“Okay, let’s take the tape and glue” said Kageyama and picked the little plastic devise that looked like a tip-ex pocket mouse but contained glue tape rather than correction tape (1). 

“I prefer the stick glue” was Tsukishima’s comment and he already held the black and yellow stick glue in his hand. 

“But stick glue is messy. Tape glue is much better!” protested Kageyama and snatched the stick from Tsukishima’s hand. “Here” he gave him the tape glue. “Trust me, I have younger cousins.”

“You do?” He couldn’t picture the black haired boy spending time with his younger cousins doing paper crafts.

Kageyama nodded with a serious expression. “They can be quite a handful and they don’t understand a thing about volleyball – they seem obsessed with baseball for some reason… But they are good kids and my Grandma makes me spend time with them ever so often.”

Tsukishima snickered. “So you’re a grandma’s child?” he teased.

Kageyama’s eyes narrowed again. “So what?”

The blond shrugged. “Just never imagined...” Their eyes met for a fleeting moment. But it passed quickly and they continued making the paper castle. 

It was indeed not an easy task for them, the gluing it together as they did not exactly see eye to eye on which part should be glued where – even though Tsukishima insisted that the instructions were clear! – And in which order – as Kageyama kept “improving” the instructions. 

They did manage to make the castle in the end and were quite satisfied with the result. However, they were also quite exhausted and could only hope that Shimizu-Senpai’s task would not be that difficult. 

It indeed wasn’t. In the room Shimizu-Senpai’s task was set up held only one black box on a table and the task was for both boys to stick one hand into the box and figure out what kind of objects had been placed in there. As both had to put their hand in there at the same time, it was unavoidable that their hands would touch and feel each other at some point during the task, which made both of them a little bit uncomfortable, but neither complained, they just grinned and endured it. 

When they got back to the clubroom after finishing the last task, they found the others from the team there already. Some of them looked as weird as Tsukishima, especially Tanaka and Nishinoya who had had bad luck with Hinata’s task; they both were wearing a party hat and had stickers on their cheeks. 

Surprisingly, their team did not come in last after the points had been counted and compared. However, they also did not win the thing, Asahi and Narita did. 

The Christmas party had been fun, but a disappointment to the three people setting it up. Yamaguchi sighed when they had finished cleaning up and looked at Tsukishima who still tried to rid himself of glitter. “Should I wait for you?” Yamaguchi asked as he shouldered his bag. 

“No” Tsukishima grumbled. 

Yamaguchi gulped but did not say anything except for good-bye and left together with Yachi who had just finished packing her things as well. As the two walked towards the school gates both sighed. 

“Well, it seems that we were not successful.” Yachi seemed sad. 

“Yeah… I really thought this would help, but if anything it made things more difficult. I’m sure Tsukki will hold a grudge against Kageyama for covering him in glitter…” Yamaguchi looked at the floor. He felt somehow embarrassed. Their plan had failed and he was sure that if Tsukishima should ever find out, he would not be very pleased to know that they had meddled in his affairs. 

Yachi nodded. “I’m afraid you’re right.” 

They fell silent and continued walking to the gate where their ways parted. As they said goodbye, they both smiled at each other shyly. 

Meanwhile the clubroom had emptied out, but Tsukishima was still there along with a lot of glitter. “I can’t go back home like this”, he muttered and brushed over his arm just to find that the glitter now stuck to his hand rather than his arm. He groaned. 

He was so absorbed in the Sisyphean task that he did not notice the blue eyes watching him or hear the person approaching him. Only when two hands hesitantly started to brush across his back, he realized that he had not been alone. He stiffened at the touch, which made the hands stop. 

“No…” Tsukishima was not sure how to tell the other one to continue. But he didn’t need that many words as Kageyama continued brushing, this time with a bit more force. 

It felt like an eternity squeezed in a very short moment, Tsukishima enjoyed the touch. It felt as if Kageyama cared for him. It felt like he had tender feelings towards him as well. It almost felt like he did not do it out of a feeling of obligation but because he wanted to touch him as well. The blond wanted this moment to last, but too soon the hands disappeared and he heard a grunt, which probably signified that the black haired boy was satisfied with his work. 

“Won’t get much better”, he grumbled and Tsukishima could have sworn that he heard a ‘sorry’ uttered, but he could not be entirely sure as Kageyama had walked away to grab his bag and sling it over his shoulder. 

Tsukishima looked at Kageyama while he too reached for his bag and decided that indeed it would get not much better, even if he stayed and brushed longer. He caught up with Kageyama at the door, they both stood there for a moment, hesitating. Both reached for the doorknob. Neither knowing why they had stopped in front of the door without opening it. When their hands touched, warmth spread through them. It was odd; both had a flashback to the task with the black box. Of course their hands had touched there as well, but it had at no point not felt this intimate and at the same time, both had hoped for the slight touch, for brushing against the skin of the other boy’s hand, all the while complaining about the other one being clumsy and that he should better keep his hands to himself.

Blue eyes locked with golden ones. Both boys gulped. They saw something they had never seen in the other’s eyes. 

But why now? Why had they never realized that it was there in the other’s eyes?

Neither could answer. 

Neither could tell why they leaned in to each other, why their lips brushed against each other. 

Neither could tell who had initiated the kiss. 

However, both could tell that it was reciprocated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1) I know, they probably don’t have tip-ex pocket mouse correction tape in Japan (I have never seen it), but I think it might be easier for those who don’t know that I mean with “glue tape” to google the tip-ex thing to get a picture of what it is. I do know for a fact that there is tape glue in Japan (I recently bought some), but as I bought some from a 100yen store and threw away the package I can’t check if they printed an English name for it on the package or translate the Japanese name… The German term for the tip-ex pocket mouse would be “Korrekturbandspender” (it doesn’t come up in my dictionary though). Oh and yes, I know that "glue tape" and "correction tape" don't do the same thing, but the device looks the same! ;)


	4. A whole new world

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello dear munchkin kittens!   
> I almost forgot to update this!! I'm so sorry! Be grateful that I was just reading a work of Mekabella21 where she mentioned in the comments something about posting a chapter late, that was when I remembered that there was still something I had forgotten!   
> Thanks to everyone who took the time to read, review and kudo the previous chapters and is still with me and the story. This is the second but last chapter, I hope you enjoy it despite it being a lot shorter than the third chapter (but I think I mentioned in the notes before that Chapter 3 was the longest in this work).   
> Anyways, please leave a review or kudos if you liked this. I'd be grateful.  
> Jia ne

Tsukishima had smirked when their lips had not been glued to each other anymore. Kageyama had seemed slightly confused. He had frowned. 

Neither had said anything, they just left the clubroom, walked to the gate in silence and parted ways. 

That had been on Saturday, now it was Sunday evening and Kageyama was sitting on his bed, still slightly confused. He touched his lips remembering Tsukishima’s, they had been as soft has he had imagined, but he had never thought that his tongue would be that warm, that he would taste so good… 

What had he done? 

Not only had he been the reason for Tsukishima being covered in glitter wearing a party hat and looking very sour (Hinata had snapped a picture of him which he had shared with Kageyama) but he had also kissed him the very same day. God, he had tasted sweet. So much sweeter than what his salty attitude he sported.

But what would he do this Monday? How would he face him? 

He let himself fall to the side, so his head rested on his pillow and he had a good view of the small frame on his bed stand. It was the picture of Karasuno holding the trophy after winning against Shiratorizawa. All team members were in the picture, so he could look at Tsukishima all he pleased without being creepy. 

It had been a mutual kiss, so he did not have to worry that much. Or so Kageyama told himself. However, it did not make him feel at ease when he made his way to school that Monday. One thing that did make him relax a bit was that he ran into Hinata at the school gates and raced him to the clubroom. He forgot about Tsukishima, the kiss and all that for a moment. However, the memories came crashing down on him as soon as he saw the tall blond entering the gym when he and Hinata were already doing their warm up.

Tsukishima did not act in anyway different from before. Maybe that was good. Maybe that was bad. Kageyama did not know which it was. He just knew that it stung somehow that the middle blocker still avoided him. 

Morning practice was uneventful as was most of the day. After afternoon practice he stepped out of the clubroom sighing. Maybe he should start staying after practice again, because he felt like he was not as good as he could be and soon they would stand on the court in the communal gym in Tokyo. He had to get serious. 

Deep in thoughts he walked past the Gym, when he suddenly heard the sound of a ball crashing on the floor. He stopped walking. Did Hinata stay back? He wondered and went to the door to take a look. He heard the smashing again and when he pushed the door open he saw someone a lot taller than the fiery redhead standing on the court and practicing his serve. Kageyama frowned. He wanted to dismiss the situation and move on, but he could not. He just stood there and watched Tsukishima’s serving form. 

It was really beautiful. 

When Tsukishima had run out of balls to serve, Kageyama walked into the gym, closing the door behind him and made his way to the balls on the other side of the net. “What are you doing here, after practice?” He almost asked the question, but it felt weird, so he only looked at Tsukishima with the question written all over his face.

The blond smirked. He picked up a ball walked over to where Kageyama had picked one up. “I set up a trap”, Tsukishima whispered. They were standing as close as they had stood on Saturday in front of the door. 

Golden eyes peered down on Kageyama. The black haired boy gulped. He wished his crush would kiss him again. He wished he would feel the soft lips, the hot tongue again. 

Tsukishima still smirked and snickered before turning around and serving the ball so that it fell into the box from where he had taken the balls. He continued serving the balls but he did not always succeed. 

Kageyama just stood there, watching. He turned the ball he was holding in his hands unsure what to do. When Tsukishima started taking down the net, he snapped out of it, brought the ball to the box, rolled it into the storage room to come back and help with the net. He hadn’t used it, but it was weird to just stand there and not help, they were teammates after all. 

After they brought the second pole back into the storage room, Kageyama looked around and asked: “What was that with the trap about?” 

He was still confused when Tsukishima suddenly came closer and pushed him against the sports mats. “How dense can you be?” was what Kageyama read in the golden eyes before they fluttered shut and he felt the pink soft lips pressed once more against his own. 

Kissing Tsukishima felt good. It didn’t matter that he did not know where they were going with this or why exactly they were doing it – he just hoped it was because the boy kissing him liked it as much as he did. 

***

Tsukishima lay on his bed. He had set up the trap every day for this week now and Kageyama had obligingly fallen into it every time. They had kissed, passionately, sweetly, and long and short, but that was it. They never touched each other or talked about what they did. 

Wasn’t that odd? 

Maybe not. 

There was no rule saying that they had to define what they were doing or discuss why they were doing it. Wasn’t it fine as long as both parties agreed that this was what they wanted?

Was it really what he wanted?

His dreams told him that it was. Since starting to kiss Kageyama the blue eyes haunted him even more. As did white skin and soft pink lips. 

***

The winter vacation passed. Apart from during practice, Tsukishima did not meet Kageyama. They did not message each other or stay longer after practice. He did not set up the trap as often, partly because they did not have as much time and suddenly the Spring Tournament had started and it was better to bury all thoughts of kissing or fooling around. 

At least that was what Sawamura told them, after Asahi had teased him about his relationship with the captain of the girl’s volleyball team. He did not outright forbid anyone from dating – because that might have cost him his girlfriend – but he did tell them that at the moment the priorities had to be clear. Therefore, Tsukishima refrained from meeting the black haired setter. 

Kageyama for his part did not seem to mind the arrangement. He seemed to focused on the practice and his mental preparation for the upcoming tournament to mind not to be malcontent with not being lured into a trap. 

However, after their first win at the tournament, Kageyama did not seem content. He shot Tsukishima glances and after they had listened to their coach’s interpretation of the game, he grabbed him at the jersey and dragged him away. 

“What’s wrong with you?” the blond demanded to know while he tried to loosen Kageyama’s grip, but it was not possible. The boy dragged him to the next bathroom and locked themselves in one of the stalls. Before he could say anything more his lips were sealed by Kageyama’s and he felt arms wrapped around his neck. 

They deepened the kiss as Tsukishima pushed Kageyama against the wall of the stall before sitting down on the toilet and pulling the black haired boy down on his lap. 

They panted when their lips finally parted.

“What the hell…?” Tsukishima exclaimed in a muffled tone. 

Kageyama was crying. 

Not knowing what he was supposed to do, Tsukishima kissed him again, pulling him close and hugging him while trailing kisses to his neck. 

The black haired boy cried silently and hugged him tightly. 

The moment did not last long. Kageyama found his self-restraint again; he wiped away the trails of the tears, kissed Tsukishima again and stood up. “Th… Thanks” he said before he left the stall, leaving Tsukishima rather confused.

But the confusion did not last long. It dawned on him after the second match when Kageyama attempted the same thing. Tsukishima did not allow him to do so this time, making Kageyama very agitated. However, when they went back to their hotel that night, he purposefully held Kageyama back when Hinata and Yamaguchi, with whom they shared the room, went for the public bathing area. 

“Kageyama”, he whispered, “What is it that you want?”

Kageyama looked up in his eyes, not exactly knowing how to answer. He had felt so reassured after that kiss earlier. Even if they won their matches, he was still giddy after every game, feeling as if this would not last and they’d lose the next game. It was rare for him to lose confidence. Oh yes, he knew that he had the skill to win, otherwise he would not have been invited to the all-Japan youth volleyball camp, but still, he could not account for the whole team and he was scared that they would lose soon. But kissing Tsukishima calmed him. So he laid a hand behind Tsukishima’s neck in order to lower his head down and plant a kiss on his lips. It was a chaste one, short and fleeting. “You” he answered with confidence.


	5. Let It Go

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My dear tortoises and munchkin kittens  
> This is the end.  
> I am sorry.  
> Thank you all for staying with the story over the course of the last 5 weeks. I am very grateful to everyone who left kudos or a comment and hope that you will read one of my other stories one day.  
> Now a word of caution for all those who might be a bit more faint hearted. The title of the chapter is there for a reason, I'm not going to say more about it because I feel like it would be a spoiler, but see the bad omen?! Oh and this chapter is the reason the whole thing was rated M.  
> Well then, you have been warned.  
> Enjoy reading!  
> Jia ne

Dating Kageyama Tobio wasn’t easy, especially as they had to keep the relationship a secret. Coming out during a major tournament was not a good idea, so they had agreed that they would try to be discreet until the new school year would start and then they could discuss if they wanted to tell some people. However, Tsukishima was not really sure if it was necessary to tell people. He liked keeping his personal life to himself and when they started their second year in high school he did not agree to tell Yamaguchi and Hinata when Kageyama brought the topic up again. 

***

It was almost summer again. They had been dating for almost quarter of a year now. Kageyama still could not believe that he had actually been able to fulfil his first love. It seemed so surreal, considering that his partner was Tsukishima. 

The blond was cold most of the times and they did not look like they were dating. Well, he himself was also not really the affectionate type. PDA was just not something he was comfortable with. 

Tsukishima showed him that he liked him in his own way. Sometime he slipped him a book or some notes he knew Kageyama needed to understand some things in the classes he was not good at. He nonchalantly took his water bottle with him when he went to fill up his own and when they were alone, he would not mind sitting close and leaning on his shoulder or using his lap as a pillow. 

Because they had not officially told anyone, though Kageyama was quite sure that Hinata or Yamaguchi had taken up the hints as they did wink at him sometimes, they only met at each other’s houses and avoided being seen together in public. Their relationship during club hours had improved, they had to be good senpais after all and not scare the new first years, but Tsukishima still made snide remarks whenever he felt like it and Kageyama flared up at him, not being as comfortable with him on the court as he was with Hinata. 

***

It was early in the morning on Sunday. It was raining outside. Kageyama and Tsukishima were lying next to each other in Kageyama’s room. Tsukishima was lying on his back, and Kageyama on his side facing his boyfriend. 

“Tomorrow’s the training camp with Nekoma and the rest”, murmured Kageyama. He had been looking forward to the week of the training camp but now it somehow bothered him. They had gotten into a rather comfortable habit of meeting on Wednesdays after practice and he hated to know that during this week they would not have time to meet up and be alone. They had to keep an eye on the first years as well as make use of the opportunity to meet the people from the other teams.

“Seems strange that Kuroo-san and Bokuto-san will not be there anymore.” Tsukishima said, turning his head to look at his boyfriend to see the reaction in his eyes. He knew Kageyama had not been able to handle either captain and recently he had confessed that he was kind of jealous as Tsukishima still kept in touch with the two of them, that he texted them more often than he did Kageyama. But why would he not? He got to meet his boyfriend almost every day, so there was no need to text him. However, Kageyama’s jealous streak did give him some pleasure. As did kissing him.

Teasing and kissing Kageyama Tobio was what Tsukishima Kei seemed to live for. And so he kissed him right now as well. He drew it out, kissed his him gently and pulled him so that his boyfriend was lying on top of him. The blond let his hands roam over the smaller but equally muscular body. Kageyama was not wearing a shirt and his white skin started to turn red from his rising arousal.

Tsukishima’s hands had wandered down the back, groping the tight butt cheeks, which were wrapped in tight fitting boxer briefs. The black haired boy began grinding his cock against Tsukishima’s and battled his tongue. Now knowing what to do with his lust, he wanted to do it; he wanted to wrap a hand around his member and Tsukishima’s, he wanted to see the blond panting under him. He wanted to see his eyes roll back into his head as he grunted in satisfaction when he came. But he knew that if he started doing it right now he would not last long and that would be a pity.

They had done it before. They had clung to each other, kissing, sucking, and biting each other in various places. They had both experienced how it felt to be the one putting it in and they had both experienced how it felt being filled up with their boyfriend’s manliness. They had taken their time doing it one weekend when Tsukishima’s parents had gone on a trip with Akiteru for two days and done it thoroughly. They had explored every centimetre of their lover’s body and now it felt like they knew everything about each other. 

Kageyama loved the sensation of Tsukishima’s lips wrapped around his member, of the tongue that teased him mercilessly until he could hardly tell which way was up and started thrusting into Tsukishima’s mouth, which always made the blond stop him because he did not like deep throating. Which only showed that both of them, despite thinking that they were very mature now that they had lost their virginity, were still quite inexperienced and if both were honest, more often than not their sexy time was interrupted by some trivial thing like forgetting to place the lube close by which then required one of them to get up to get it or suddenly feeling the urge to go to the toilet – which usually was an excuse to jerk off and therefore prolong the time they could spend doing nasty stuff without coming. 

Tsukishima was still groping Kageyama’s ass but had taken off the boxer briefs so he was feeling the hot flesh in his bare hands. He massaged the cheeks while biting Kageyama’s neck. “Do you want to?” He whispered.

“I won't last.” The black haired boy bit his lips. It was rather embarrassing to admit such things.

“Doesn’t matter.” Tsukishima kissed him. “I want it.” He rolled him over and reached for the silicon-based lube. He opened the bottle and pressed out some of it into his left hand. He grabbed Kageyama’s cock and applied the lube on it while Kageyama helped him get out of his pyjama shorts and began fingering his hole with some lube. 

Both boys began groaning with pleasure and anticipation. They kissed as Tsukishima lowered himself on Kageyama and began riding him. He first started moving his hips slowly picking up pace as he went and the black haired boy began thrusting in him with the same pace applying more and more force the longer they were connected. 

Being inside Tsukishima was heaven. He was so tightly wrapped around his member even when they had sex with a condom, which they usually did, but it was so early in the morning the thought had not crossed either mind as they most likely had run out of condoms the last night, he felt every movement so clearly. He enjoyed also seeing Tsukishima ride him. He looked a bit like David of Michelangelo with the evenly defined abs and white skin. To Kageyama he was definitely a masterpiece. One he was allowed to spoil and sully all he wanted. 

He grinned and grabbed Tsukishima’s hips and pushed him down on his cock so that he was unable to move as Kageyama pounded into him, making him gasp and muffle a cry or two of pleasure. 

Kageyama groaned when he came, riding out his pleasure for a moment, then kissed his boyfriend. 

They kissed for a while before Tsukishima lifted himself up, put his pants on again and rushed out of the room. Yes, this was the unsexy side of having sex without a condom. But having Tsukishima run to the bathroom and sit it out on the toilet was better than spoiling his underwear. In the meantime Kageyama could prepare himself and look for the condoms, which crossed his mind when he saw his boyfriend hold a hand over his backside. 

As he had feared, they had no more condoms left. Maybe Tsukishima would be satisfied with a blowjob this time? The time had advanced and Kageyama’s family would soon get up, so he could not count on an free bathroom where he could empty himself out. 

***

Being in a relationship with Tsukishima Kei was a lot of work and somehow, Kageyama started to feel that something was off, but he was not sure what it was. By the time of the end of their second year in high school he realized that he did not enjoy their time together as much as he had enjoyed it previously. 

He couldn’t really say when he had started to feel differently about Tsukishima, but as he realized he was already not that much in love anymore. He still liked Tsukishima; he had come to appreciate the salty and sarcastic side of the tall blond. He still liked his looks, god it should be banned to be so sexy, especially during volleyball practice. Showing off abs by wiping away sweat from the face with the hem of the shirt just wasn’t fair! 

But was he still in love with him? He had never thought that they would get this far, but was that reason enough to stay with him from here on out? 

He decided that yes, because he could not imagine how life would be without Tsukishima in it, but he knew that probably one day he would have to let go. 

That day did come earlier than he had thought and the break was nastier than he had ever imagined it. It was in the first half of their third year in high school when they had to fill out their future plans. Without consulting him, Tsukishima had written down different Universities in Tokyo and chosen a path that not necessarily included volleyball – or Kageyama, as the black haired boy had decided to stay in the prefecture because there was a very renowned University in regards to volleyball. 

Kageyama felt betrayed by Tsukishima’s behaviour, even more as the blond reacted cool and collected, telling him that there would probably be no such thing as “their” future. They had separate futures and it was for the best.

Kageyama frowned when he was told so. “But don’t you love me?”

“I like you” Tsukishima admitted. “But did you not feel it as well? We don’t like each other as much as we used to. And this will be a burden to you if you really want to go pro. There are no professional sportsmen in Japan who are out.”

“So now you complain about keeping all this a secret?” Anger welled up inside him.  
Tsukishima just looked at him with cold eyes.

“No. I am not complaining. I’m just saying it will be difficult to keep it secret.”

“So you are running away?” He tried to say it mockingly, rather than disappointedly. 

“I don’t want a complicated life.”

“Then let’s end this here.”

“Good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't hate me, please don't hate me... (hides)
> 
> If you are interested in what happens to Tsukishima after this, I will write 4 sequels, the first being named "Where do I go from here?" (not sure when I will post that though as I haven't finished writing it yet and have to refrain from writing due to exams...)  
> And I could be tempted to write a sequel for Kageyama too, but I'm not exactly sure where that would lead me, so if I get people to lobby for a Kageyama sequel I will write one (he deserves to be happy too).


End file.
